Axel sits back on his heels, his breathing out of control. His eyes flash to mine, and then he’s on his feet, wrapping me in his arms. “Goddamn, Naughty boy. I thought you were gone.”
I wrap my arms around his waist, relief hitting me so hard that I feel like I’m going to pass out. “Just a few bumps. I’m fine. Help is on the way.”
He pulls back and starts searching me over to make sure I’m not lying. Then my words hit him. “How do you know help is on the way?”
“I hacked into the safe zone Holden set up in Les’ security and sent them a message. He’s tracking Kai’s safeguard.”
“Oh. Holy shit,” Axel breathes. He kisses me hard and then drags me into the room with Kai. “We have to get him out of there, but we need to secure Charlie first.” Axel slumps against me, and I wrap my arm around him to try and hold him up.
“The adrenaline is wearing off. Your leg is really fucked up.”
“No shit,” Axel groans, leaning against the cage. “I need some rope or something.”
I look back at Charlie, who’s out cold. “I’ll go find something and see if he has the key. You sit down.”
“No!” Axel grabs my arm and pulls me back against his side. “I don’t want you out of my sight.”
I gently push him to sit on the floor and lean his back against Kai. “I’ll be right back.” I tentatively walk to Charlie and start digging through his pockets. My hand closes around a keyring that I hope is for that lock. I pull them out and toss them into Axel.
“Come back to me, Naughty boy.”
“I will.” I take off for another room and ransack them one by one trying to find anything we can detain Charlie with. I’m in the fifth room when I hear the creak of a door. My heart starts hammering in my chest, knowing this is the end. We should have known that Charlie had more than two guys. I squeeze myself into a corner, no clue what the fuck I’m going to do now. The door to the room I’m in eases open, and I hold my breath.Please don’t see me.
That thought is short-lived when the barrel of a gun is shoved in my face, then a familiar skull mask comes into view. “It’s me!”
Cole rips his mask off. “Nolan? Holy fuck.” He jerks me into a bear hug. “I have Nolan,” he says into his earpiece.
“Cole?” I whisper, holding onto him for dear life.
“It’s me. Damn, it’s good to see your face. Where’s everyone else?”
“Come on!” I take off back down the hallway and see several black figures lining the wall. I stop in my tracks when we get in front of the room with Kai. “Where’s Charlie?”
Les raises her mask to the top of her head. “What do you mean?”
“Fuck,” I groan and push past them to Axel. He’s slumped over exactly where I left him, out cold. I drop to my knees beside him, Cole on his other side, with tears in his eyes. “Axel?” He doesn’t stir, but his breathing is even. “We need to get Kai out of there.”
“Ryder went to get bolt cutters from the car. He should be back in a second,” Zane answers, squatting beside us. “Are you hurt?”
I shake my head and run my hand down Axel’s cheek. “He cut the tracker out of my neck, and I got grazed by a bullet.” I swallow, dreading what I have to ask. “Where are the rest of them?” They all exchange uneasy glances, and I drop to my ass. “Just tell me.”
Les gets to her knees beside me and puts her arm around my shoulders. “Maybe we should wait until we get out of here.”
“No. Fuck that,” I argue and look at Cole. “Just tell me, please.”
Cole takes a deep breath. “Sean is in the hospital. It was touch and go for the first twenty-four hours, but he’s going to make a full recovery.” Cole grabs my hand like he needs the contact as much as me. “We can’t get a lead on Chelsea.”
“I thought she was with Gavin?”
Les clears her throat. “We found him alone. Gavin took a bullet trying to save her. He’s in intensive care on a ventilator.”
Ryder comes rushing into the room, hands Les an ammonia capsule, and goes straight to the lock. The sound of it hitting the floor is like a gunshot going off. Ryder reaches for Kai, and Cole jumps to his feet. “Wait! I don’t know how he’s going to react. Let me talk to him.”
“We’ll get Axel woken up,” Les says. “Gage, Leo, and Zane, take Tay and search this place from top to bottom for Charlie.”
With a nod, they disappear from the room, and I take the capsule from Les. I wave it under Axel’s nose, and he jerks awake, wildly looking around. “Shhhh,” I say. “We’re fine.”
He looks around at all the people standing around him, his eyes lighting on one in the back. “Brother.”